Whaler Central - Boston Whaler Boat Information and Photos

Posted by Frick on 09/01/10 - 5:51 PM

Can anyone recommend an orbital sander. I will be sanding the topside of my 15 whaler to prep for a new paint job. Do i use an air sander or electric. Orbital 5 or 6 inch. Any help would be appreciated.

Posted by modenacart on 09/01/10 - 6:20 PM

you need a big compressor to run an air sander. I would consider board sanding for any surface you want flat.

Posted by wezie on 09/02/10 - 4:48 AM

As modena mentioned, the cfm required to run an air tool like a sander is relatively high. Look at the specs for the tools. Unless you are going to get "into" this work, air tools are a whole parallel world. what you will spend getting into it will buy more than one electric sander.
Electric sanders are good, buy what you can, use air to clean it out and keep sanding.
Velcro backed sanding pads are a blessing. Look for larger packages (<$) An auto paint supplier may be a good place to start.
If you can hook up a vacuum to the sander it will take care of most of the dust at the source. (duck tape will help).
Rough enough grit to knock off the bumps, and fine enough to keep from ruining the project.
Good Luck!

Posted by Phil T on 09/02/10 - 6:22 AM

If you desiring a tool for the long term consider a Porter Cable unit that has variable speed and has a buffer kit. I have one and it is great for sanding and buffing.

A basic orbital that takes standard sheets will work and saves you the hassle of special pads.

Posted by MW on 09/02/10 - 9:12 AM

I did my whole boat's wood work with a small mouse sander from "Homey Depot" for $29, it had the Velcro backed pad change out and as mentioned by "Wezie" it IS a "Blessing". It did the job surprisingly fast, and getting into the tight spots was easy. It lasted for three complete jobs refinishing all of the boat's woodwork then it cooked up, I just tossed it in the trash and chalked it up to the "Cost of doing business". It paid for itself with $ I saved doing my own re-finishing work.

Posted by modenacart on 09/02/10 - 9:17 AM

If you plan on doing a lot of sanding, you might find it cheaper to have the stick on sanding discs. It seemed to me the Velcro ones were expensive after a while.

Posted by theo on 09/02/10 - 10:21 AM

I read for quite awhile on this and the "other" forum before deciding on the Porter Cable. Lots of recommendations for this sander/polisher if you're looking to invest in a decent quality tool, unlike certain other unnamed Whalerheads who frequent this forum. . . . :o

http://www.coastaltool.com/a/port/742...lisher.htm

Posted by tedious on 09/02/10 - 11:59 AM

#10

Ted, the 7424XP is a great polisher (I have one) but it is only a polisher, not a sander. The pad does not rotate, but only orbits. I do not think it will be effective in sanding down gelcoat.

Tim

Posted by theo on 09/02/10 - 9:05 PM

#11

Tim, the rotation is on a clutch-type mechanism; you can stop the rotation with firm pressure, but with light to moderate pressure it rotates. I wasn't aware of that when I bought it but it's done fine so far on a couple of light sanding jobs. You've got me worried now that it won't do well under heavy load.

Frick, I guess I better take back my advice to buy the 7424 until I find out how good it is on the tough stuff. Sorry about that.